[alawton]

Hello,

My experience has been that students tend to play down their English ability. An advanced student is likely to tell you that he is a beginner. This is a natural defense mechanism. If I'm not using a formal assessment, I will just start up a conversation. I'll make sure to speak in the past tense and the conditional and see how the student responds. After about five minutes, you can usually get a good idea of the student's basic level. Good luck!